My last day in New York City, I followed some of Dan Jobe’s suggestions and took the double decker red Gray Line bus tours around the city. I had toyed with the idea of getting tickets to another play (would have been my fourth in four days), but luckily I chose not to as my touring day took all day and into the evening. The first tour route went downtown heading past various iconic NY sites as Penn Station, Madison Square Garden, the Empire State building, Macy’s, and through areas such as the garment district, Greenwich Village, SOHO, and Wall St. I hopped off at the south end of the loop by Battery Park, and walked up and through Wall St., which is a smaller, more compact area than I’d realized.
After grabbing a bite of lunch, I took the Staten Island Ferry which passed by Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty. It was a nice ride across, then after getting off and looking around briefly I took it back. It was nice to get out on the water, and get a little different perspective on the city.
After returning to Manhattan, I hopped back on the bus, which looped back up along the east side. I again hopped off by the South Street Seaport and walked up towards the Brooklyn Bridge. It took a little doing, but I managed to find the pedestrian path and walked out to the first tower on the bridge. Amazing old stone construction of the towers, and beautiful patterns made by the supporting cables. It’s a little weird that the pedestrians (which were thick) are on a level over the traffic; the trash barrels were filled to overflowing with plastic bottles, and I could just imagine stuff dropping down on the traffic below.
This walk provided some great views and I took lots of pictures. I made my way back to the bus line and completed the downtown tour, through the East Village, and past the UN again. Although that tour should only take about 2 1/2 hours, with all my side trips, it was late afternoon by the time we got back to Times Square.
I then hopped on the last run of the uptown tour loop. At this point I was fairly tired (and it was the last bus of the day anyway), so I just sat and rode around the whole loop.
It went around Central Park, through the West Side, past Lincoln Center, through Central Park West (where we caught a glimpse of Yoko Ohno), up by Riverside Drive, across through Harlem, and back down the East Side of Central Park. By the time I got back it was around 7 pm, so I’m glad I didn’t try and squeeze in another play. The bus tour was a great way to get a good broad sense of the various neighborhoods and sites of the city.
After I got back and cleaned up a bit, I went and had a relaxing Italian dinner on 9th Ave in Hell’s Kitchen. Afterward I stopped in Times Square again and took some night time pictures. I then had a nitecap at an Irish tavern and headed home.